A BUSINESSMAN who had contracts with Premiership football clubs and some of the country’s top golf clubs failed to reveal that he was an undischarged bankrupt, a court heard on Tuesday.

Denbigh magistrates were told that Anthony Webster (pictured inset) had no money at all and was being harassed by creditors.

Webster, 49, of Bryn Del, Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, pleaded guilty to being involved in the running of a company while an undischarged bankrupt and the Bench adjourned the case until April 12 for a pre-sentence report. Chairman Richard Welch said custody could not be ruled out.

Stephen Barnfield, prosecuting for the Department of Trade and Industry, said that in December 2003 Webster was a director of Turf Irrigation Systems (TIS) of Sandbach, which went into liquidation with a deficiency of £812,000.

Webster himself, who had ploughed all his own money into the venture, was declared bankrupt in 2004 with a deficiency of £239,000.

The Official Receiver subsequently held a lengthy investigation into the affairs of Aquatic Control Limited, a company which had been set up in 2002, and it emerged that Webster, in his dealings with various people, failed to mention that he was an undischarged bankrupt.

One creditor, stockbroker Nicholas Randall, allegedly gave Webster £35,000 between November 2004, and February 2005, for landscaping work at his home in Graigfechan.

“Mr Randall subsequently found out that the work done was worth £9,000 and the remedial work cost £33,000,” said Mr Barnfield.

“It is clear that Mr Webster was the public face of the company and the only person to deal with the financial affairs. He was not a director of the company in name but clearly acted in the management of the company and did not alert anybody that he was an undischarged bankrupt,” he said.

“It is a clear breach of the court order,” he added.

When interviewed, Webster admitted that he had not had the court’s permission to be involved in the management of a company but claimed he had not acted intentionally.

Robert Vickery, defending, said his client had been a successful businessman whose sprinkler systems were used by Premiership soccer clubs and golf clubs, but one contract led to TIS’ financial downfall.

Aquatic Control Limited specialised in domestic sprinkler systems but that company, too, ran into difficulties over one contract he added.

“He is very much a broken man and is relying on his wife’s wage of £500 a month in a local supermarket,” Mr Vickery told the court.